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K-State researcher dead after Manhattan apartment fire

Cause of small fire still under investigation

Vasanta Lakshmi Pallem, 34, a postdoctoral researcher in Kansas State University's chemical engineering department, reportedly died of smoke inhalation as a result of a late Wednesday fire at an apartment complex in Manhattan.

A Kansas State University faculty member was killed and another 16 people were displaced after a small fire ignited in a Manhattan apartment building late Wednesday.

Vasanta Lakshmi Pallem, 34, a postdoctoral researcher in K-State’s chemical engineering department, reportedly died of smoke inhalation after being transported to Mercy Regional Health Center early Thursday. According to a statement from K-State, the university is offering help to those impacted by Pallem’s death.

No other injuries were reported.

The roughly 16 other occupants, many of whom were K-State students, were given assistance from the university and the American Red Cross. K-State’s emailed statement indicates the other occupants have been relocated to hotels or are staying with friends.

The report of a fire at the 12-apartment complex at 820 Sunset Ave. came out at 11:46 p.m. Wednesday, said Manhattan Fire Chief Jerry Snyder. The fire was small, he said, and was extinguished “within minutes.”

The cause, starting location and damages of the fire still are under investigation, he said. Snyder said he didn’t know how long the investigation would take.

“I really have no idea,” he said. “It’s going to be a while.”

A news release from the Riley County Police Department states the two departments, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating the cause.

The release states police and ambulance services were dispatched to the apartment building at 11:44 p.m., where they found smoke coming from the address. Rescue efforts began immediately, the police release says. Once officers were in, they found a 34-year-old woman in medical distress. The woman later succumbed to her injuries, according to the release.

Pallem was one of two postdoctoral fellows working with associate professor Vikas Berry. According to K-State’s website, she earned her Ph.D. at Tennessee Tech University. At K-State, she was researching graphene interactions and graphene quantum dots.

A March 15, 2011, release from the university describes graphene as “a form of carbon that is only one atom thick” — making the property impermeable, the strongest nanomaterial, optically transparent and with a high thermal conductance.

Berry and his research team are “wrapping bacteria with graphene to address current challenges with imaging bacteria under electron microscopes,” the 2011 release states.